Monopoly in Lights

Taste the Rainbow

Got the new breadboard in as a birthday present (thanks Dee!) and finally got the circuit transferred over.  It immediately appeared to be better, as the behavior was more consistent, even if not exactly what I wanted.  Initially, I could tell during the pulse cycle exactly when the LEDs were at full intensity, and exactly when they were off.  The times in between, however, were all identical.  After looking over schematics and pinouts, though, I discovered a couple of swapped connections.  Amazing how not hooking things up in the right order can make it not work.

After fixing the incorrect wiring, the circuit began acting as expected, although at some intensities the LEDs had a very annoying flicker.  Regardless, I carried on, but the flicker continued to annoy.  I eventually figured I should swap out my oscillator chip for a faster one, but realized I had the fastest one I ordered already in, at 3.0 MHz.  So, figuring I had nothing to lose, I swapped in the slower 1.5 MHz chip, and suddenly the flicker was completely gone!  Guess the higher frequency was just a little too much for the LED driver running at 5V off the Netduino.

With the flicker gone, I finally started to play with some actual color values, and set my prototype space back on the RGB LED.  As I’m typing this, I’m watching it cycle as follows:  Off, white, red, green, blue, yellow, magenta, teal, and a repeat of the colors in a much darker, muted version.  I’m hoping to allow the colors to be customized while playing, but for now this is a really great milestone, as it’s showing a wide range of colors using the type of materials I’m building with, and the blending on the actual surface of the space is really quite pleasant.  This gives me the highest of hopes for the results of the full build.

(Click for video if you’re interested)

June 6, 2012 Posted by FoxFireX | Electronics | Leave a Comment